Questions about variable bitrate mp3

[dcs.79c]

I have a bunch of mp3s recorded on a flash drive that are 11 years old. I'm able to play them but I don't know what shape the files are in. I guess that I'll need to start over again & I have almost 300 CDs!

I've researched the different audio file formats, both lossy & lossless. My 1st choice is lossless. But each file would take up many MBs. I'd probably need terabytes of space. I'm 77 years old & I'm not an audiophile (but I'd love to be!). My 77 year old ears probably couldn't tell the difference between FLAC & mp3.

I suppose that my questions about mp3 can apply to Apple or Windows. I want a file format that's playable on Apple & Windows. Mp3 fits that bill! I have Apple mini & Apple Air.

Anyway, I've researched online about CBR mp3 vs VBR mp3 & the pros & cons of each. I just listened to ABBA's Mamma Mia recorded back in April 2014! I checked the specs. I ripped it at 320kbs, the duration is 3 minutes 35 seconds, the file size is 8.7 MB. Back then I used iTunes. I have Sonoma on my mini. I have version 1.4.6.32 of Apple Music. I don't remember if I chose VBR or CBR when I ripped ABBA & others. I think that I chose VBR but I'm not sure. The specs on Apple Music don't specify the bitrate. I read online that the VBR encoder (or is it the decoder?) can get confused & mix tracks. I don't want that to happen!

When I rip a track off of a CD using mp3 VBR, will Apple Music prevent the encoder (decoder?) from mixing tracks?

 

[RadDave]

I have a bunch of mp3s recorded on a flash drive that are 11 years old. I'm able to play them but I don't know what shape the files are in. I guess that I'll need to start over again & I have almost 300 CDs!

I've researched the different audio file formats, both lossy & lossless. My 1st choice is lossless. But each file would take up many MBs. I'd probably need terabytes of space. I'm 77 years old & I'm not an audiophile (but I'd love to be!). My 77 year old ears probably couldn't tell the difference between FLAC & mp3.

I suppose that my questions about mp3 can apply to Apple or Windows. I want a file format that's playable on Apple & Windows. Mp3 fits that bill! I have Apple mini & Apple Air.

Anyway, I've researched online about CBR mp3 vs VBR mp3 & the pros & cons of each. I just listened to ABBA's Mamma Mia recorded back in April 2014! I checked the specs. I ripped it at 320kbs, the duration is 3 minutes 35 seconds, the file size is 8.7 MB. Back then I used iTunes. I have Sonoma on my mini. I have version 1.4.6.32 of Apple Music. I don't remember if I chose VBR or CBR when I ripped ABBA & others. I think that I chose VBR but I'm not sure. The specs on Apple Music don't specify the bitrate. I read online that the VBR encoder (or is it the decoder?) can get confused & mix tracks. I don't want that to happen!

When I rip a track off of a CD using mp3 VBR, will Apple Music prevent the encoder (decoder?) from mixing tracks?

Hello - 300 CDs should be no problem as to storage - now I own 4000+ CDs and being your age also, not about to rip all of those - looking below at the AI Overview, you would need only 240 GB if stored as WAV files - 1 TB SSD external drives are going for about $100 or so on Amazon, so should not be a concern - I have my ripped music (only about 50 GB and a mix of lossless and lossy MP3s) duplicated on 2 smaller SSDs.

If archival storage is your purpose, then most would rip lossless with FLAC being popular, however, that audio codec is not compatible with all devices (e.g. does not play on my CD player nor my Apple devices - other formats will and I'm sure with your research you're more up to date than me).

As to CBR vs. VBR on the MP3 format, I have usually just used CBR and have not done any 'testing', so others and/or further research on your part would be needed. You could also visit an audio forum such as Home Theater Reviews, HDTV, HDMI Receivers and leave your same post in one of their sub-forums dedicated to that issue. Good luck. Dave
.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

MP3 is a good format to use for a variety of devices, Mac, Windows, music players, cars and so on all support it.

Anything about 160 bitrate is generally fine. Most of my audio is 256 with a few at 320. Variable or fixed don't matter as much for audio quality, just the amount of space the file takes.

 

[RadDave]

MP3 is a good format to use for a variety of devices, Mac, Windows, music players, cars and so on all support it.

Anything about 160 bitrate is generally fine. Most of my audio is 256 with a few at 320. Variable or fixed don't matter as much for audio quality, just the amount of space the file takes.

Hi Ashwin - I needed some memory refreshment on MP3 file sizes of CBR vs. VBR - I use to 'play around' with the two options and found little difference; an AI Overview provides a nice summary below. Dave
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[Raz0rEdge]

As the piece you quoted states, VBR essentially only allocates space for places with audio, but quiet pieces or less complex areas are encoded at lower rates to save on space.

One thing to note is that for normal length songs (3-5 mins), sticking with a CBR of 256 or so should yield a 5'ish MB file. VBR will save about 1.5 MB of that, so not a significant savings. But everything is 320 or high encoded, then the size different might be significant.

 

[dcs.79c]

Hello - 300 CDs should be no problem as to storage - now I own 4000+ CDs and being your age also, not about to rip all of those - looking below at the AI Overview, you would need only 240 GB if stored as WAV files - 1 TB SSD external drives are going for about $100 or so on Amazon, so should not be a concern - I have my ripped music (only about 50 GB and a mix of lossless and lossy MP3s) duplicated on 2 smaller SSDs.

If archival storage is your purpose, then most would rip lossless with FLAC being popular, however, that audio codec is not compatible with all devices (e.g. does not play on my CD player nor my Apple devices - other formats will and I'm sure with your research you're more up to date than me).

As to CBR vs. VBR on the MP3 format, I have usually just used CBR and have not done any 'testing', so others and/or further research on your part would be needed. You could also visit an audio forum such as Home Theater Reviews, HDTV, HDMI Receivers and leave your same post in one of their sub-forums dedicated to that issue. Good luck. Dave
.
View attachment 40342

Wow! 4000+ CDs!

These comments/questions apply to Apple Music (henceforth AM).

I noticed that FLAC doesn't appear in AM, but ALAC does! As does WAV.

I noticed that the AAC on AM encoder maxes out at 320 kbps just like mp3. Also, the AAC sample rate is fixed at 44.1 just like a CD.

What's High Efficiency encoding on AAC? Is that VBR?

The sample rate on AIFF maxes out at 48 kHz. That's higher than the CD rate.

No custom settings on ALAC.

For mp3, the higher the "Quality", the bigger the file. I thought that the sample rate for mp3 was fixed. Apparently not. It can go as high as 48 kHz.

What is joint stereo? I've seen that on YouTube.

What are smart encoding adjustments on mp3?

 

[dcs.79c]

MP3 is a good format to use for a variety of devices, Mac, Windows, music players, cars and so on all support it.

Anything about 160 bitrate is generally fine. Most of my audio is 256 with a few at 320. Variable or fixed don't matter as much for audio quality, just the amount of space the file takes.

I like many kinds of music - classical, rock, opera & operetta, musicals, gospel. My favorite is classical. I would think that classical would benefit from VBR because there are soft parts & loud parts, i.e. dynamic range.

 

[RadDave]

Wow! 4000+ CDs! - About 70% are Classical; over 300 Jazz - use to have more of both but downsizing last 2 yrs.

These comments/questions apply to Apple Music (henceforth AM).

I noticed that FLAC doesn't appear in AM, but ALAC does! As does WAV. - ALAC is Apple's FLAC - great for 'lossless' archival storage but Apple specific.

I noticed that the AAC on AM encoder maxes out at 320 kbps just like mp3. Also, the AAC sample rate is fixed at 44.1 just like a CD. - Check this Wiki article for an answer on sample rate.

What's High Efficiency encoding on AAC? Is that VBR? Same link above.

The sample rate on AIFF maxes out at 48 kHz. That's higher than the CD rate. Well pretty close believe the 48 kHz is preferred for movie audio?

No custom settings on ALAC. - Never used that Codec?

For mp3, the higher the "Quality", the bigger the file. I thought that the sample rate for mp3 was fixed. Apparently not. It can go as high as 48 kHz. - "MP3 files typically use a sample rate of 44.1 kHz (44,100 samples per second) or 48 kHz." (AI search) - and yes an MP3 file at low bit rate will be smaller that one at a higher bit rate, the latter being of better 'quality'.

What is joint stereo? I've seen that on YouTube. - No idea?

What are smart encoding adjustments on mp3? Mainly the bit rate - 256 or 320 kbps are my choices. Dave

 

[MacBiter]

It's a pity you need to play on Windows as well, or I'd say that AAC (Apple's default lossy codec) is superior to MP3. I ripped CDs with CBR of 256kbps AAC and honestly couldn't tell the difference from CDs ... but never tried that on hifi!.

 

[dcs.79c]

Last nite I tried an experiment. I chose a music CD & put it into my Superdrive. I clicked on "Get Info" & the CD has 560.5 MB of files. I set up AM for WAV. I ripped the CD. When AM had finished ripping the tracks, I looked at the extension. It was .aiff. I went to the Media folder & looked at the extensions. They were .wav! I know that both .aiff & .wav are lossless. I don't understand why a file would have 2 extensions. Do you?

Most of the CDs are mine but some are Dad's CDs. I'm going thru his CDs. Either I'll rip an entire CD or only rip a partial CD. Some of his CDs have music that I've already recorded so I'm not going to re-record those tracks. Last nite I noticed that AM started ripping with Track 1. Is it possible in AM to choose only the tracks that I want to rip or do I need to rip all & then delete the tracks that I don't want?

I want to add to my collection. I wondered about downloading, say Mahler's symphonies, in a lossless format. I don't have high-speed internet so it would take a long time to download a Mahler symphony in lossless format!

 

[MacBiter]

Last nite I tried an experiment. I chose a music CD & put it into my Superdrive. I clicked on "Get Info" & the CD has 560.5 MB of files. I set up AM for WAV. I ripped the CD. When AM had finished ripping the tracks, I looked at the extension. It was .aiff. I went to the Media folder & looked at the extensions. They were .wav! I know that both .aiff & .wav are lossless. I don't understand why a file would have 2 extensions. Do you?

Most of the CDs are mine but some are Dad's CDs. I'm going thru his CDs. Either I'll rip an entire CD or only rip a partial CD. Some of his CDs have music that I've already recorded so I'm not going to re-record those tracks. Last nite I noticed that AM started ripping with Track 1. Is it possible in AM to choose only the tracks that I want to rip or do I need to rip all & then delete the tracks that I don't want?

I want to add to my collection. I wondered about downloading, say Mahler's symphonies, in a lossless format. I don't have high-speed internet so it would take a long time to download a Mahler symphony in lossless format!

I'm not sure why there are two extensions - AIFF is Apple's lossless format, WAV is Microsoft's. What are you referring to as the "Media folder"?.

As for ripping selected tracks, if AM is the same as iTunes used to be, just check the tracks you want (or uncheck what you don't want if the default is that they're all checked) before you rip the CD.

 

[dcs.79c]

I'm not sure why there are two extensions - AIFF is Apple's lossless format, WAV is Microsoft's. What are you referring to as the "Media folder"?.

As for ripping selected tracks, if AM is the same as iTunes used to be, just check the tracks you want (or uncheck what you don't want if the default is that they're all checked) before you rip the CD.

The "Media" folder is the AM folder where the ripped tracks are saved.